Danielle Sassoon, one of many US attorneys behind the prosecution of former FTX CEO Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried, took the stand in an evidentiary listening to involving a take care of one of many firm’s executives.
In a Thursday listening to within the US District Court docket for the Southern District of New York, Sassoon testified in regards to the responsible plea of Ryan Salame, the previous co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets, which resulted in his sentencing to greater than seven years in jail.
In keeping with reporting from Interior Metropolis Press, Sassoon said that her group would “in all probability not proceed to analyze [Salame’s] conduct” if he agreed to plead responsible. Additional investigation into the previous FTX government and his then-girlfriend, Michelle Bond, resulted in the latter going through marketing campaign finance prices.
“I’m not within the enterprise of gotcha or tricking individuals into pleading responsible,” said Sassoon, referring to Bond being charged after Salame’s plea.
Bond, one of many remaining figures tied to the felony circumstances involving former FTX executives, has been making an attempt to have her prices dismissed based on claims that prosecutors “induced a responsible plea” from Salame. The top of her case would possible mark the ultimate chapter in felony prices that started when FTX filed for chapter in November 2022.
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She pleaded not responsible to prices of conspiracy to trigger illegal marketing campaign contributions, inflicting and accepting extreme marketing campaign contributions, inflicting and receiving an illegal company contribution and inflicting and receiving a conduit contribution.
The fees are intently tied to Salame allegedly ordering $400,000 in funds linked to FTX, which was used for Bond’s 2022 marketing campaign for a seat within the US Home of Representatives.
It’s been three years since FTX collapsed… who’s in jail?
Salame reported for his seven-and-a-half-year prison sentence in October 2024. Caroline Ellison, the previous CEO of Alameda Analysis, pleaded responsible and commenced serving a two-year sentence in November 2024.
Two different former executives named within the indictment, Nishad Singh and Gary Wang, pleaded responsible and acquired sentences of time served.
For Bankman-Fried, nonetheless, the saga is ongoing. The previous CEO has been behind bars since August 2023, when a choose revoked his bail over allegations of witness intimidation. He was later tried, discovered responsible and sentenced to 25 years in jail as a part of proceedings intently monitored by many within the crypto and blockchain trade.
SBF’s legal professionals returned to court on Nov. 4 to argue for overturning the previous CEO’s conviction and sentence. Filings claimed that Bankman-Fried was “by no means presumed harmless” throughout his trial and argued his authorized group was not allowed to current data relating to FTX’s solvency.
There’s additionally hypothesis amongst many crypto customers that SBF could also be attempting to obtain a pardon from US President Donald Trump. The president issued a pardon to former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao in October, claiming that “what he did will not be even a criminal offense.”
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